by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez & illustrated by Nadine Takvorian ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2002
Language and metaphor equally strained, this overwrought tale of a seed’s roundabout journey to a “beautiful home and miraculous life” not far from its mother is likely to seem more silly than inspiring to its intended audience, while just leaving younger readers confused. A “gentle breeze” (or a “mighty wind,” depending on the page) plucks a sunflower seed from its mother, carries it past a field, a garden, a desert (where it converses with “granules” of sand), the ocean, and into clouds before abruptly reversing course, conveying it back over the same territory. Cautioning, “you cannot live in your mother’s shadow forever. She has given you her strength and her beauty and her power. Now you must take those things and learn to grow strong on your own,” the wind drops the seed near its starting point. Takvorian illustrates the seed’s sojourn with spattered, impressionistic compositions in dark orange and green, effectively representing the wind with combed swirls of white but, perhaps wisely, leaving readers to visualize clouds and sand waving goodbye to the departing seed. Other seeds make journeys that are more plausible in tales like Eric Carle’s Tiny Seed (1987); for readers about to leave the nest and contemplating the possibilities in their own immediate futures, this is unlikely to be one of the Places They’ll Go. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-9700863-0-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: All About Kids
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
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adapted by Rachel Isadora & illustrated by Rachel Isadora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
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by Helen Ketteman & illustrated by James Warhola ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1997
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
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